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‘Hammer blow’ of £145 Brexit food import charges; oil prices near $90
Live  
‘Hammer blow’ of £145 Brexit food import charges; oil prices near $90
Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as UK government imposes charges of £29 per type of item for imports of cheeses, meats and yoghurt
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Today's agenda
Business groups have described the imposition of steep fees for individual food imports into the UK as a “hammer blow” for small restaurants, cafes and delis.

The UK government has revealed that importers of animal products from the EU will pay £29 per type of item – such as an individual piece of cheese. The charges will be capped at £145 per shipment.

The government has repeatedly delayed the introduction of sanitary checks on meat, dairy and the majority of plants from the EU, fearing that businesses were not prepared for the changes.

Business groups are not happy with the newly announced fees.

William Bain, the head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, called for the UK government to U-turn on imposing the fees because of the risk of higher food prices.

He said: "This is an extremely disappointing decision by Defra on the common usage charge. The level of import charges shows scant regard to the interests of both businesses and consumers.

"A flat rate fee for bringing most animal and plant products into the UK is a hammer blow for small- and medium-sized importers. It’s also deeply concerning for retailers, cafes and restaurants."

Oil prices have risen as traders weighed the Opec+ cartel’s decision to press member countries to cut production and the continuing strength of the US economy.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil for June delivery, the global benchmark, rose to a high of $89.71 on Thursday morning, after almost touching $90 on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate, the North American benchmark, hit a high of $85.79.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank, led by Henry Allen, said that oil price increases could give central banks “signs of concern about inflation, as oil prices closed at their highest levels since October”. They wrote that oil price increases are “filtering through into consumer prices as well, and the AAA’s daily average of US gasoline prices was up to $3.549/gallon as of Tuesday, which is also its highest since October”.

The agenda
• 9am BST: eurozone HCOB services purchasing managers’ index (March; previous 50.2 points; consensus 51.1)
• 9.30am BST: UK S&P Global services PMI (March; previous 53.8 points; consensus 53.4)
• 1.30pm BST: US balance of trade (February; previous -$67.4bn; consensus -$67.3bn)
• 1.30pm BST: US initial jobless claims (30 March; previous 210,000; consensus 214,000)

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